Census API MCP Server

Access U.S. Census Bureau data including demographics, population, income, housing, and more.

Data Available

• American Community Survey (ACS) - Detailed demographic and socioeconomic data

  • 1-year estimates (acs/acs1) - Areas with 65,000+ population

  • 5-year estimates (acs/acs5) - All areas, more reliable for small populations

• Decennial Census (dec/pl) - Official population counts every 10 years

• Economic Census - Business and industry statistics

• Population Estimates - Annual population estimates between censuses

Related MCP server: Open Census MCP Server

Setup

1. Get a free API key at: https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html

2. Add to your MCP config:

{
  "census": {
    "command": "node",
    "args": ["/path/to/census-api/dist/index.js"],
    "env": {
      "CENSUS_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
    }
  }
}

Tools

query

Fetch Census data with full control over variables and geography.

Example: Get median household income for all states

year: "2022"
dataset: "acs/acs5"
variables: "NAME,B19013_001E"
forClause: "state:*"

list_datasets

List available Census datasets for a given year.

list_variables

Search for variables in a dataset. Useful for finding the right variable codes.

Example: Find income-related variables

year: "2022"
dataset: "acs/acs5"
search: "income"

list_geographies

List available geographic levels for a dataset.

get_fips

Get FIPS codes for states, counties, or other geographies.

Example: Get all county FIPS codes in California

year: "2022"
dataset: "acs/acs5"
geography: "county"
inClause: "state:06"

Common Variables

Rate Limits

• No strict rate limit with API key

• Without key: 500 requests/day

Documentation

• API Documentation: https://www.census.gov/data/developers/guidance.html

• Variable Search: https://api.census.gov/data.html